This blog features observations from Randy Turner, a former teacher, newspaper reporter and editor. Send news items or comments to rturner229@hotmail.com

Tuesday, September 01, 2015

Feds: Homeless couple charged with robbing Webb City bank

(From the U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri) A homeless woman and the man who served as her getaway driver have been charged in federal court with robbing two Kansas City metro area banks and a Webb City, Mo., bank this summer, according to Tammy Dickinson, U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

Sheryl A. Stewart, 31, and Richard Zane Holliday, neither of whom have a known address, have been charged in separate criminal complaints. Holliday was charged today in a three-count criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo. Stewart was charged in a two-count criminal complaint on Aug. 26, 2015. Stewart and Holliday remain in federal custody pending their detention hearings.

The criminal complaints allege that Stewart and Holliday stole $2,212 from Equity Bank, 6209 N.W. 63rdTerr., Kansas City, Mo., on June 24, 2015. According to affidavits submitted in support of the federal criminal complaints, Stewart allegedly walked up to a teller and handed her a handwritten note that read, “This is the robbery. Give me all the money. I am armed.” The teller gave her money from her drawer, the affidavit says, and Stewart left the bank.

The criminal complaints also allege that Stewart and Holliday stole $1,190 from Blue Ridge Bank and Trust, 621 N.W. Duncan Rd., Blue Springs, Mo., on July 8, 2015. According to affidavits, Stewart held up a piece of paper so a teller could read a note that said, in part, “keep smiling,” instructed the teller not to pull any alarms, and mentioned that Stewart was armed. The teller handed Stewart cash from her drawer, the affidavits say, and Stewart left the bank.

Holliday is also charged with stealing $5,090 from Pinnacle Bank, 1010 S. Madison in Webb City, Mo., on July 14, 2015. According to the affidavit, a woman used a note to rob the bank. When the bank teller handed her the money, the robber walked quickly out the front door of the bank and got into a silver/gray-colored four-door Cadillac sedan (no license plate) with tinted windows parked north of the bank and backed up to the front sidewalk curb. The Cadillac, allegedly driven by Holliday, pulled away and went northbound out of sight.

Based upon witness account and surveillance photos, the affidavits say, Holliday’s silver 2007 Cadillac was believed to have been involved in all three bank robberies.

Multiple crime stopper tips were received by law enforcement, which identified Stewart as the bank robber.

On Aug. 30, 2015, Stewart and Holliday were arrested in Cass County, Mo., after a tip was called in to the Cass County Sheriff’s Department regarding a sighting of Stewart and Holliday. Stewart and Holliday had entered a residence of an associate where deputies were alerted to their location. Holliday resisted arrest on outstanding warrants out of Oklahoma, and struck one of the deputies in the face. As a result of that injury, the deputy received multiple stitches. Holliday was confronted by another deputy and taken into custody.

Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in this complaint are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christina Y. Tabor. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the FBI.

About Me

I am a former teacher in the Joplin and Diamond, Missouri, school districts. Before entering the teaching field, I spent 22 years as a reporter and editor for various Southwest Missouri newspapers. I have published three novels, Small Town News, Devil's Messenger, and No Child Left Alive, and seven non-fiction books, The Turner Report, Newspaper Days, Silver Lining in a Funnel Cloud, Greed, Corruption, and the Joplin Tornado, 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado, Spirit of Hope: The Year After the Joplin Tornado, Scars from the Tornado and Let Teachers Teach.

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